October 17, 2008

WTO backs US sanctions in EU beef hormone dispute

The World Trade Organization Appellate Body has concluded the US was within its rights by imposing additional duties on certain EU products in a long-standing dispute involving the EU's ban on growth-promoting hormones in US beef.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab made the announcement in a release Thursday (October 16).

The dispute over the EU ban on beef from animals administered certain growth-promoting hormones dates back to 1996 and is one of the longest-standing disputes in the history of the WTO, the USTR said.

In 1999, after successfully challenging the ban, the WTO authorized the US to impose additional duties on certain EU products -- which the US did.

Those duties are intended to restore the balance of trade concessions under the WTO and to induce compliance by the EU with the WTO's rulings and recommendations, the USTR release said. The EU amended its ban in 2003, claimed the ban thereby complied with WTO requirements and challenged the continued application of additional duties by the US.

However, in light of Thursday's report, there is no need to remove those duties, the USTR said.